Individuals and the "Bubble"

One of the most interesting things discussed in the video about the "Bubble" (the quick rise and demise of new technologies that is followed by a golden age), is how individual power is growing just as quickly as, if not faster than, corporate power. Sites like Amazon and eBay allow individuals to compete with large corporate retailers, which has revolutionized how we buy and sell online.

We can see how this has been carried over into sectors like the music industry, where many bands or individual artists are choosing to release downloads of their music from their own website rather than going through major labels or record stores. While it might seem like the web is dominated by industry giants like Google, Facebook, etc., individuals are actually being empowered as well.

Another interesting point from the movie addressed how Amazon and eBay focused primarily on the consumer experience instead of making money. Both of these companies began operations under the same theory: sacrifice profits for customer satisfaction. Rather than trying to figure out how to make profits, they companies sought to harvest a large following. Both creators realized that as user numbers increase, the usefulness of the sites increase as well. This concept, which seemed strange at the time, is now proving to be extremely successful.

Take, for example: Facebook, Google, YouTube, and Twitter. Each of these sites are free to use, and provide valuable services to their users. However, since they do not charge for use and did not sell advertisements (this has changed as the companies have grown), no one knew how they would be able to make money. The creators of these sites realized that the most important thing is to 'get big fast', and worry about how to make money later. Now these sites have become so connected to our daily lives that they are irreplaceable.

The power of search and people

I was kind of disappointed that there was no mention of net neutrality in either of these videos, Search and People Power, but perhaps it was covered in the other videos for The True Story of The Internet. At the end of People Power he says that the Internet has become something that Big Business can't even hope to control, but I think it's probably a mistake to feel too safe.

As for Search, it was interesting to see that Yahoo! was started by two guys goofing around while their professor was on sabbatical. I was just listening to NPR before I watched these videos, and there was a story about Google investing in wind power. They mentioned that a lot of these side ventures that Google starts come from engineers essentially using their free time. Every engineer apparently gets 20 percent of one day out of each week to work on his or her own project. A lot of amazing, life-changing innovations begin in flexible environments like these. I don't understand why more companies do not catch on.

The history of the internet

The internet today is our life. Plain and simple.....to think that even 50 years ago this concept was new and very naive is almost unreal. Now there are millions of people online daily doing a variety of different things.

Recently in my online media design class with @cindyroyal we watched the "history of the internet" produced by the History channel which describes the internet as "no other invention that has grown so fast and touched so many lives" and also as "in an instant you have access to things everywhere" In the beginning of it all, ARPA created something called the ARPANET.

Vinton Cerf who now works for Google is recognized as one of the "fathers of the internet" describes the WWW as the Telecom infrastructure of the 21st century. I would say he was pretty accurate. The video provides insight from the brilliant individuals involved in the creation and advancement of the internet and the way the networks were established. Interestingly enough, some of these remarkable individuals were graduate students at the time of their discoveries and decisions that are important today. It gives us grad students some inspiration! :)

Just to name a few of these pretty neat and creative individuals:

Dr. Leonard Kleinwreck - professor at UCLA also known as the "father of the internet" he developed the theory of the packet of networks. His host computer at UCLA became the first node of the internet in September 1969. And....he was a graduate student at the time:)

Ray Tomlinson -BBN - 1971 wrote a program to enable electronic mail to be sent over the ARPANET. He sent the first true email over the ARPANET, Tomlinson is the inventer of email. He also developed the @host convention. He my friends.....developed "the killer app" What in the world would we do without email? This is an effective and convenient way of communicating to people no matter where they are.

Robert Metcalfe- created a wire-based system using protocols for Local Area Networks (LANS) which becomes Ethernet.

It is intriguing to think about these individuals who created and developed technologies that are SO important and integrated so heavily in our lives.

Google scares me a little...

But it's the only search engine I use. It's on my toolbar. I have Gmail and iGoogle. The only map finder I like to use is Google Maps. MapQuest is just out of the question.

No matter what search engine you may prefer, one has to admit Google set the standard and is now giving everyone a run for their money with the apps they offer. After reading the Business Week article on cloud computing and Google 101, it amazing how this idea has grown and will likely be the next level of Internet usage and computing. Microsoft's attempt and merging with Yahoo, which the search engine company refused to accept, shows the industry giant in tools such as word processing is getting a little scared. Of course, Google replaced Microsoft as the leader not too long ago.

Yet, I still remain skeptical. The idea of having all my information hanging out in some server farm thousands of miles away doesn't make me comfortable. Security risks are involved. No company could be hack free. On another related tangent, Google could have all this information about me they use to tailor whatever of there's I use to my preferences or likes, just the way Gmail places ads relating to the content of email. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It's weird enough I do a vanity search (which is weird in itself) some old review I wrote as a freshman still comes up. Usually a person's Myspace profile can come up on a search, which depending on what you do in your spare time, may not be such a great thing. It's those who don't know or don't care that will have to deal with the consequences.

According to a study conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in 2005, 84 percent on Internet users have used a search engine. The study did have one troubling statistic: 65 percent of people with six or more years of online experience said search engines are fair and unbiased sources of information. It found younger users were more trusting of search engine results than older users.

You have to be skeptical in order to survive on the Internet. Nothing goes unrevealed unless you stop it. Misinformation can spread like wild fire if the top search you click on is what you take as fact.

Fragmentation Engines

Okay, so Google is the new Google. Or Google would be the new Google if Google happened before Google. However, Google happened after Google, not before? No, But Google didn't happen before Google either...If Google defines the Web, how do we define the Web outside of Google?

It's confusing because Google only recognizes time within Google, not before or after. In Google Time, we discuss pre-Google, but the only material available is dated within Google time. Google reflects pre-Google, but cannot access it.

Now I use Google. Google everything all the time. My old posts confirm my Google-ist tendencies. Google might not yet be the Web, but if the Web is Fragments, then Google defines where the Fragment falls. If your Fragment fails Google kairos, then your Fragment doesn't exist. Web rhetoric is Google rhetoric. Web speech is Google speech. It's the OED of the post-Pepsi generation (is that the Starbucks or energy drink generation?). When I want a Wikipedia answer, I Google it!

China Googles a more honest Google. How? Google.cn is censored. But Google.com is censored too. It misses pages. It takes bribes. Google knows what the Google wants. But Google ONLY knows what the Google wants.

But Google fights the government. Google is libertarian! Google is profit. Google needs users and users need privacy. Google needs trust. Google trusts the perception of privacy.

Google looks simple, but has a complex foundation. Not the Google code, but the Google Fragments. How do you out Google Google? Relate the Fragments. Add Fragments. Trend Fragments. Turn the margins into the center and marginalize the center.